Operations Analysis for a Large Lunar Telescope

Thyen, Christopher; ,

Operations Analysis for a Large Lunar Telescope

by Christopher Thyen, Univ of Minnesota, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space III

Abstract:

With the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope a new generation of science optical observatories was made a reality. Astronomers and scientists have long seen space as having inherit advantages over Earth based observatories and have awaited for the development of the infrastructure to allow the placement of scientific instruments into space. With the defining of NASA's Space Exploration Initiative by President Bush in 1989, ..back to the moon, back to the future, and this time, back to stay., scientists and engineers began to seriously develop a next generation space telescope concepts for the lunar surface. One such conceptual design is that of a 16 meter filled primary mirror Large Lunar Telescope (LLT) by Marshall Space Flight Center which will operate in the IR/Visible/UV spectral regions. The buildup of a permanent lunar base from which manned exploration would be based would provide assets that are not available in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) or other lunar regions for the assembly of a large optical telescope installation.

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